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Touchdown Jaguars!
Touchdown Jaguars!
Episode 84: Analyzing the 2024 Draft Class with Daniel Griffis
Get ready for an exhilarating journey into the heart of the Jacksonville Jaguars' 2024 draft class with the astute Daniel Griffis by our side. This episode peels back the curtain on the team's strategic decisions, starting with the fascinating potential of wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. as a game-changer for Trevor Lawrence and the offense. Our lively debate also traverses the Jaguars' draft strategy, pondering the choice of an offensive juggernaut over a defensive dynamo, while Daniel offers his rich insights on the new talent set to make waves in the locker room.
Navigating the complex terrain of NFL drafts, we dissect the artistry behind route-running and compare the tactile prowess of wide receivers like Calvin Ridley with the raw promise of newcomers. Listen in as we scrutinize Maason Smith's injury-laden past against his undeniable potential, diving into how the Jaguars' coaching could be the key to unlocking his full array of talents. The episode doesn't just highlight the stars; we shine a light on the later draft picks and undrafted free agents who could leave an indelible mark, from the versatile Deantre Prince to the strategic selection of kicker Cam Little.
As we wrap up, Daniel Griffis doesn't just bring stats and speculation; he brings the pulse of the Jaguars community to the forefront. Our discussion takes a turn towards the analytical, celebrating Daniel's role in elevating sports reporting with data-driven insights at Jaguar Report. With a nod to the future of Jaguars football, this episode is a master class in draft analysis and the endless possibilities that come with new talent. Tune in for an episode that's as informative as it is engaging, promising to fuel your excitement for the Jaguars' upcoming season.
Find Daniel's (@DanDGriffis) work here.
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James Johnson and Phil Smith bring you the best and most up to date Jacksonville Jaguars news. "Touchdown Jaguars!" is a tribute to the prospective ownership group "Touchdown Jacksonville!" In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams and "Touchdown Jacksonville!" announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists. In November 1993, the NFL owners voted 26–2 in favor of awarding the 30th franchise to Jacksonville. James and Phil have been fans of the franchise ever since and have had the honor (and sometimes dishonor) of covering the team professionally since 2017. The rest as they say, is history.
Welcome to the Touchdown Jaguars podcast. Here are your hosts, james Johnson and Phil Smith. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Touchdown Jaguars podcast. I am your co-host, phil Smith. A little bit of an abbreviated intro here today as Jay and I welcomed in Jaguar Report contributor as well as data and analytical extraordinaire, daniel Griffiths. You've probably seen a ton of his content spread throughout all of Jaguar Twitter and Jay and I were super excited to reconnect with him as we used to work with him back in the Jaguars Wire days. As always, social media links, as well as links to download the Seeky app to use our promo code Touchdown Jaguars, are all in the show notes of this episode, along with all of Daniel's links, so you can keep up with him as well. But without further ado, let's get into our conversation with Daniel.
Speaker 2:Back to Touchdown Jaguars, as we are here with our heavily anticipated conversation as we break down the entire draft class for the 2024 Jacksonville Jaguars. And Jay, you know I always say that here on the podcast. You know I'm reacting to things on a very personal and emotional level as a fan of this team. You know since its inception. Level as a fan of this team. You know since its inception.
Speaker 2:But when it comes to, you know, the analytical side of things and the ins and outs and the things that are just kind of over my head, I always turn to other people and of course one of those people is yourself, jay, and then the other person is our guest here on the Touchdown Jaguars podcast, daniel Griffiths. At Dan D Griffiths over on Twitter, heavy part of the Jacksonville Jaguar community. Daniel, thank you so much for being here today. You know, draft season is always incredibly exciting and I want to thank you for your time, and you know just how are you feeling this afternoon as we take a look at what the Jacksonville Jaguars were able to put together here in the month of April.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks for having me on. I just got back from golfing so it's been a fun day for me, and now I get to talk about Jaguars, so it's even doubly fun. It was a fun offseason, I think overall, the Jaguars and Trent Baalke did a really good job of acquiring talent both sides of the ball and I'm excited to talk about some of these guys.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, from the golf course to the recording studio. We appreciate it. It sounds like a good day for sure. So let's just jump right into it here with him, jay and you know we'll start with round one. Of course, if you have, if you want to know Jay and I's full thoughts on the first round pick, you can go back and listen to our previous episode, which we dropped the Thursday or the Friday morning after round one, when it comes to Brian Thomas Jr.
Speaker 2:So you know, daniel, during the pre-draft process there was a whole bunch of talk of, you know, moving up. Was Malik Neighbors, roma Dunze, one of those guys in the mix to go up and get them? Ultimately it did not happen and what actually happened was that the Jaguars end up trading back and seemingly still getting their guy. A lot of really, really great praise on Brian Thomas Jr and that selection, a lot of analysts, a lot of former players, big fans of his as well. So I want to just start right there. As far as the first round pick, pick 23, brian Thomas Jr. What does he bring to this passing game? What does it mean for Trevor Lawrence and what does it mean overall for the team bringing that guy in, who will hopefully add a heavily needed deep threat to this offense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll be honest, I was more on team cornerback heading into the draft. Jaguars were there at 17. And pretty much all the defensive players except for Leatu Latu were on the board. I believe, and Minnesota obviously makes the board. I believe, and Minnesota obviously makes the trade to Jacksonville. They give up what's the equivalent of a second round pick, which is a good trade for Jacksonville, because they only moved back six picks and ended up taking Brian Thomas Jr and kind of starting the run on receivers at the back half of the first round into day two.
Speaker 1:And I was a little apprehensive. I was looking at Quinion Mitchell and Terryon Arnold. I was big fans of theirs, but then you look at what the options they had available on day two with pretty much all the receivers were gone. Troy Franklin stuck around for a little bit there. He fell a bit but it would have been slim pickings.
Speaker 1:So it might be that the Jaguars and Trent Baalke ended up making the right decision and targeting receiver first as a priority. As far as Brian Thomas Jr incredible athlete, one of the premier athletes in this year's draft at receiver and he could play outside, I believe it was 87.5% of his snaps were from a wide alignment, which is something the Jaguars need because they got two already really heavy slot guys with Evan Ingram and Christian Kirk. You bring in Gabe Davis, you still have Zay Jones. Those are more outside guys. But I was worried that if the Jaguars waited until day two with some of the guys like Ricky Pearsall, jalen McMillan, that it would have gotten pretty heavily trafficked in the slot for the Jaguars. They find a guy who can come in and probably be an instant week one starter for them.
Speaker 2:And Jay, we felt the same way about those defensive players. We were definitely on the Quinion, Mitchell and Terry and Arnold train. So, Jay, just to kind of piggyback on what Daniel was saying, you know how are you feeling a couple of days later. You know we did that address corner a little bit later in the draft, which we'll get to, but you know how are you feeling a couple of days later, a couple of days removed from that pick, and them going wide receiver instead of taking, as Daniel said, one of those DBs that we certainly coveted.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you and I discussed that right, and me and Daniel actually discussed it in the text beforehand Last night. We were kind of just talking about the draft picks and what have you. And you know, one thing Daniel said, which he just already said, was, you know he was higher on the cornerbacks, specifically Arnold, and I told him I agreed, and I think that if we used a more of a Ravens format you know, best available player, regardless of need then, you know, in terms of a grade, from a grade standpoint, it probably would have been Arnold that they took. Now, that's not me saying I saw the draft board or anything like that, but you know we have seen this and Trent Baalke even alluded to it in the draft luncheon. They are a team that likes to go with value. Sometimes they throw a little BAP in there, but when they do, it's BAP, that's a need, right, or that's the biggest need. So I think that played a lot into it. That being said, again like a few days after the you know draft and after the selection has been made, I still don't feel bad about it, though you know I get it, and I think one thing that really factored into this is we should have seen this, but they are a team that really, really likes to go off of their inside intel, right, and in this case it was Matt House, who you have to think they relied on heavily here. You know a former assistant for LSU what they came away with? Three LSU players for crying out loud, and that's something that they've kind of always done, if my memory serves me correctly. But yeah, that being said, man, I'm still pretty high on the pick nonetheless.
Speaker 3:Again, I do agree with you and Daniel on this, and I don't like to be a guy that have a lot of agreeance in the podcast, but I mean, I definitely would have went Terry Young-Arnold or Quinn Young-Mitchell, but Arnold over Mitchell if it came down to the two. And then I guess I'll go ahead and segue into the next part of this. Daniel, I want to ask you really quick I know you've been doing the analytics on him and what have you? Do you have some big time analytics to share with us? In terms of Bryant Thomas, I know you mentioned the outside number, obviously. Was there anything else that stood out to you though, terms of you know some other things aside from his alignment and what have you?
Speaker 1:yeah, so, um, like I said, he he lined up heavily, uh, in a wide alignment and most of his routes that he ran were in breaking routes hitches, slants, uh, digs, curls, you know, and that's probably something you'll you expect. That's going to be a little different from Calvin Ridley. Calvin Ridley did run a lot of curls and hitches. That's part of the reason he didn't have a whole lot of yak, but you didn't see the same amount of boundary routes that you saw with Calvin Ridley that the Jaguars love to run, love to run. You'll probably see more of that in the NFL from Brian Thomas Jr as he tries to take on a little bit more of an advanced route tree.
Speaker 1:Some other things of note separation-wise, despite his speed, he averaged 2.58 yards of separation, which was below average of the top 15, 16 receivers or so in the class. Uh, your tops were xavier worthy and ricky pearsall, two elite separators, one with speed and with his route running ability and the other ricky pearsall. While he did have a really good 40 time, uh, he really crafty route runner, but what he was great at is separating while he was, while the ball's in the air, you know, adjusting to the ball, creating space so he could go up and make a play. That was something that he was really really good at. He had about a 54% contested catch rate, which is really really good.
Speaker 1:It's not Roma Dunze good, because Roma Dunze is an animal in that department. That's another thing of note. In terms of yak, he's not a super yak guy, he's a little bit of a bigger dude, but that's also if you're going to be running a lot of hitches and stuff. There's usually not routes where you're going to get a whole lot of yak from. Like I mentioned with Calvin Ridley, that's part of the reason that I think the Jaguars offense in his route tree last year limited what he could do as a receiver in some aspects.
Speaker 3:Man. Daniel, it sounds like you read my scouting report that I put up day before yesterday. I'm so glad you mentioned that and I don't want to get too caught up on Thomas right now because we got some other picks to look at, but I will say so. When you mentioned the separation, right, yeah, that's something I put. Well, I didn't put separation in my scouting report, but I mentioned that he's not nearly as technical as Calvin Ridley out of routes and you know, when it comes into breaking out of routes, I know you've made the comparison that they both ran a lot of curls, but if you watch them run their curls, one is way more technical than the other and I think that's the part of Thomas's game where he's going to really have to work on to basically close that gap between him and Calvin Ridley. But yes, the separation has to do with the technical aspect of his route running which, as you said, that'll come with the experience, learning an NFL route tree and what have you.
Speaker 3:And then, in terms of the yak, that was something else that I noticed as well, especially on shorter routes. He wasn't as effective as I would like on the shorter routes, you know, in terms of yards after the catch. You know, for a guy that's 6'3", 209 pounds, you know I want to see a little bit more broken tackles, so on and so forth. Now there were times where you know he would break out for some yardage after the catch, mostly due to his speed. But, you know, in terms of the strength and just kind of like being able to to get through defenders, I wish it was a little bit more of that, but no, nonetheless, I still love this pick.
Speaker 3:This is stuff that I told Phil and maybe we'll have to catch a training camp together and some of the offseason stuff together, you and I, phil. But these are the things that are going to be so important for him in camp and I think he's one of those rookies that's going to really really need to have a strong camp for us to be able to gauge. I mean and I know that's the case with a lot of rookies, but him especially because there's so much technical stuff he needs to get down. He's a guy that I'm going to be really, really curious to watch in camp so I can better gauge what he could be for the Jaguars year one.
Speaker 2:Daniel, before we transition into the second round pick, how did you have them tiered as far as that second tier wide receiver? A lot of people were talking about Saverly Gett, Ricky Pearsall, AD Mitchell and then Brian Thomas Jr. Where did you have Brian Thomas Jr slotted in, that second tier receivers for you? Where?
Speaker 1:did you have Brian Thomas Jr slotted in that second tier of receivers for you, second behind AD Mitchell? That being said, there's been a lot of commotion about AD Mitchell off the field. How much of it is true, we obviously don't know enough to probably speculate on that. As far as who I thought was the better player, ad Mitchell, it was relatively close. I thought AD Mitchell was a bit more consistent and versatile as opposed to Brian Thomas. At LSU he did a few things really really well and you bank on the athleticism to try to hope he develops in the future. He certainly got the athleticism. So does AD Mitchell. They're both incredible athletes. I just thought that there were more things that AD Mitchell did better than maybe Brian Thomas did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we were also on the AD Mitchell bandwagon for a very long time, although, again, like you said, jay, we may have been able to see this coming quite some time ago. But let's move into the parts of the draft that we have not gotten to discuss here yet on the podcast. So let's go and move to the second round pick pick 48. And you know, I know a lot of jaguar fans were sitting back and pulling their hair as all this movement was going on. In the top of the second round. There were obviously some really, really solid players available still in in round two.
Speaker 2:Uh, daniel, you were even pointing out, you know, hoping that they would move up for Kool-Aid or Cooper Dijon. It ultimately did not happen. They stand pat and they take Mason Smith with pick 48. And this is the pick that you know. I think a lot of people were perplexed with, confused by with some of the other players that were available on the board and, honestly, it may have had more so to do with the fact that they weren't able to move up and get a player that maybe they were more familiar with. The thing with Mason Smith that I keep seeing is a lot of upside, maybe held back due to injury. What's your analysis on that selection? What do we need to know for those fans that are apprehensive about the selection?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll be honest, it's tough for me to do too much analytical stuff on Mason Smith, simply because of the injuries and the amount of time that he played at LSU. I don't you know. He tore his ACL in 2022 and he played in 23. I just don't know how much stock to put into his play in 2023. He certainly showed flashes of brilliance in 2021. He obviously had the injury in 22. In 23, there were some ups and downs for him. I don't know how much to take away from him on that injury. Certainly, acl is one of the most severe injuries you can have in football. Regardless, he played decently well and certainly showed that enough flashes of the Jaguars felt comfortable enough taking him at 48.
Speaker 1:I'm okay taking a player like Mason Smith in the second round. I think of the Jaguars' first four picks it's probably the biggest gamble, but I think that it's a typical balky. Let's gamble on traits. If this dude turns out, he could be really, really good. You look at the height, weight 6'5", 306. He had an RAS of 8.46. There's certainly a lot to like there from a height, weight athleticism standpoint. At LSU pass rushing rushing wise he had a 9.5 pass rush win rate according to pff 29th out of 143 qualifying defensive tackles and 23 pressures, which was 42nd out of 143, so that the production is not quite where you probably want it from guy. You're picking at 48, but the upside certainly there and, uh, you know, you still have to to consider how much the injury ended up hurting him in his uh, his 2023 season at lsu jay, this is definitely a topic of conversation in our group chat.
Speaker 2:You know, as daniel mentioned, you know there's just only so much you can do because of the injury, because of the, the lack of playing time with mason, so you know we haven't gotten to talk about it here. You know, let our audience know how you're feeling about that pick. You know, obviously this is not someone that was on our radar. So how are you feeling here a couple days removed?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, what I will say is, when I heard him in the press conference, you can't help but root for the kid right. But in terms of the pick pick, I believe that for Trent Balky me and you have talked about this and this is probably what we alluded to in the thread for Trent and I might have mentioned this, daniel, when we text last night as well is he's not getting a lot of help outside of the second round, outside of the first round, excuse me. Um, aside from a few guys and in terms of his draft classes with the Jacksonville Jaguars, aside from from Tyson Campbell, andre Sisco, maybe Buster all feel like he'll probably be a very good right tackle or left tackle. A lot of us feel like he'll eventually be the left tackle of the future. He showed promise and Trayvon Walker, of course too, took a big step last year.
Speaker 3:Can't complain about what we've seen out of those guys, but I think for a guy in that situation, a GM, in that situation where you're not getting much outside of round one, you need to go with the safer pick. In my opinion, don't gamble on projects, don't gamble on traits. You know, daniel threw a lot of analytics out there, where you know, admittedly he said it and it was probably this way for the Jaguars it's kind of hard to gauge what Mason Smith could be because you know just the limited amount of time he spent on the field. Now, obviously the upside is there and Smith could be a tremendous player and he could probably be one of the best second round picks that Trent Baalke has drafted in his whole tenure as a GM. But you're gambling on a lot by taking that risk. I mean I would have went with somebody who was more of a surefire thing, somebody who had a little bit more film.
Speaker 3:But again, going back to what I was saying, the intel in which they got from that house was very important and they lean on that, which you know. That's kind of a good thing because you know we have heard that sometimes Balky, you know, may not be seeing eye to eye with people in the building, so like for him to really really consider, you know, matt House and his connection with with Mason Smith. That's important, smith, that's important. So we'll see if you know we can, you know, get that untapped potential out of him. Because if we do, I mean we got a very good ball player in terms of Mason Smith. So that's what I'll say on that, and I guess we'll go ahead and move on to our next pick, which, in the third round Before we do, I'd like to add one more thing yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 3:You got something to say. Go right ahead, Danny.
Speaker 1:Jordan DeLugo posted this on Twitter, and it's something I think that people should be very mindful of. Mason Smith could not have landed in a better spot. Teammate headed to Duvall, jordan Jefferson, as well as Brian Thomas Jr His DC is already there Ryan Nielsen is a big D-line guru, eric Armstead coming in there to learn from, and Jeremy Garrett is a rising D-line coach. So if there's a team that could make Mason Smith have him reach his potential, it might just be the Jaguars. He landed a great spot for for him.
Speaker 3:You're absolutely right. He mentioned that in the press or right when he spoke with the media, with Mia and Demetrius and all of them is that he couldn't be happier about the spot he landed and that was because of Matt House and you know the surroundings. At the time he didn't know that Jefferson was on the way. Maybe he had a clue or inklingling there. But, yeah, you're right, coach Garrett, ascending defensive line coach. He actually said that he knew Coach Garrett from when the recruiting process in high school. I think Coach Garrett was maybe trying to get him to come to Vandy, if I'm not mistaken. So, yeah, you're right In terms of that. That might have been why they wanted to take a gamble on this young man. It's because of the confidence of you know what the staff could get out of him, which is, again, that's huge. Going back to what I was saying, that's huge because you know there have been times where we could clearly see that Trent Baalke and the scouting staff and the coaching staff aren't seeing eye to eye. So that's tremendous for him to have that kind of faith in what this staff can get out of Mason Smith. So we'll see. Time will tell. He'll definitely be a guy I'm watching during the offseason Because, like you said, it's just a lot left that we need to see out of him and it's a lot of pieces to the puzzle we have to put together with him.
Speaker 3:So, um, yeah, going on to the third round, pick jerry and jones, which I think this was one that you told me you were high on. Daniel, as well as me and phil. We actually kind of guessed this one in our redraft after day one. We did a redraft and we had him. Me and Phil sat at the computer, ran a simulation on PFF, put our minds together and we we picked him in the fourth round. So we picked him a little later than the Jaguars did, but that's OK, we had the same mindset there. If you would, could you talk about Jerry and Jones and that pick? Because, as we already discussed, like cornerback was something that we thought we would address earlier in the draft. They had to address it in the third round after taking Brian Thomas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is my favorite pick of the Jaguars draft. I love Jerrion Jones. Before just during the process, that FSU team's really really good and Jerrion Jones is a big part of it, as well as his teammate Renardo Green really good, and Jerrion Jones is a big part of it, as well as his teammate Renardo Green. He's probably going to play nickel in the NFL, but size still isn't an issue. Length is a little bit, but he's 6'190" and RAS of 9'6", so fantastic athlete. I'm sure that that's a big reason as to why the Jaguars drafted him, but a bigger reason is probably his production.
Speaker 1:In college he gave up an NFL rating of 25.3. It was fifth best of 480 corners in college football An NFL man rating allowed. So this is quarterback rating when targeting this player. So 158.3 is the best. Zero is if you throw an interception every play. If you throw the ball in the dirt every play, it's a 39.7. His man coverage grade NFL rating was 4.2. He basically almost picked off every ball that was thrown to him in man coverage, which is incredible. And then in the slot he gave up an NFL rating of 31.7, which was fifth out of 176 corners that played in the slot. Fantastic, fantastic player. I think that he gives the Jaguars secondary some more versatility. You can move Darnell Savage around a little bit. You can decide whether you want to have Big Nickel or Jerrion Jones, be it more of a typical Nickel. I think he gives you the ability to move some guys around a little bit and get five really good corners or really good defensive backs on the field to cover some of these tough AFC South offenses.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm glad you I was actually going to ask you about that. As far as that rating, that 4.2 rating, to kind of explain it to us, that is crazy and comparative to the other players that you had mentioned and what their rating was, you know it's a wide margin too from what you had tweeted out. So it that is a uh, definitely very high on that pick, like jay mentioned, you know we had them, had them going around later, so you know that there are some uh, as far as, like, looking at the board and you know those numbers where you know a lot of these picks do seem like reaches for the Jaguars. But again, I think they got a guy that they're going to be able to plug in right away. Jay, you know, like we, like you said, very, very high on this pick and I know Boogie is going to be excited. It was very excited about it as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, me and Boogie talked about it and he was like, yeah, jay, you called it on Jerrion Jones. You were kind of high on him from the beginning, as was I, and he was referring to himself. But, yeah, I wouldn't doubt if Boogie's going to end up with a Jerrion Jones jersey within the next few weeks or whenever he can purchase one by the legal terms of the NFLPA and when these players can get jerseys out there. But, yeah, man, I mean I love this pick too. Like Daniel said, the man coverage ability you know you got to have it in this league. You know what I'm saying. You got to have the ability, especially in the nickel, to be able to stick with people, because if you don't, it's's, you know it's going to be a long 17 weeks for you.
Speaker 3:So, um, jaron is a guy that you know I do want to watch some more of. But, um, I like what I saw out of him from the florida state games that I did watch, um, and these are games I watch like live on tv. So I do want to circle back around to him and watch some more tapes of him. But, yeah, I'm excited about that pick. He was a guy that we frequently talked about right field, not just when we did our second mock draft there, but just a guy that frequently kept coming up in our text thread, and now he's a Jacksonville Jaguar and happy to be a Jacksonville Jaguar, by the way and wants to meet Maurice Jones Drew. I don't think I've seen a better reaction of a player getting drafted by the Jags as the one that Jarion Jones gave us.
Speaker 1:Just something else to throw out there. Of the notable prospects corner prospects in this draft, he played the second most slot snaps behind Mike St Ristel from Michigan. Jari and Jones played 394 slot snaps and then it's a big drop off after him to 205 from Terry on Arnold. So there wasn't too many guys that exclusively played nickel in college to have that experience. And he's going to be one of the ones to come in here and should slide in really nice to the nickel spot. A lot of experience.
Speaker 3:There you have it. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to put words in Daniel's mouth here, because that's what we do in this podcast. Daniel has officially given Jarrion Jones the name before he's ever taken a step on the field of Slot God. So from here on on out, we're referring to him as slot god. All right, just based on everything daniel just threw at us. That's what we're calling him from here on out.
Speaker 2:He's really good that is what I heard, jay, that is that is what we heard daniel say. But yeah, no, can't wait to see him out there. And, um, yeah, like I'm glad you mentioned the you know, the maurice jones drew thing. You know that's a, that's a real fan. You know, when he said that he used to use mjd on madden all the time, that was, uh, certainly a cheat code back in the day. But let's move into the next selection here, the fourth round, another pick that we really really liked, and this was another guy, jay, that you had slotted to them, albeit again a little bit later. Uh, then he ended up being taken and that was javon foster.
Speaker 2:Offensive tackle out of missouri uh, this was pick 114. A guy, jay. I think you mentioned this, we mentioned this a lot bulky special got that arm length. That's a big part of his game and, uh, you know, the competition level that he uh, that he endured at missouri is probably one of the more made him one of the more enticing selections here in this draft. So, daniel, I know you were a big fan of this. Let our audience know what they should know about Javon Foster.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really good run blocker. I can't offer too too much analytical stuff on that, simply because the analytics isn't there yet. In run blocking, sports Info Solutions does some run blocking metrics. Unfortunately their college data isn't made public. But as far as pass blocking, he had a pass block efficiency of 98.3, which is really good, especially playing left tackle in the SEC. It was 23rd of 253 qualifying FBS tackles. He also played the eighth most snaps at left tackle of any player in the country. So he's 6'5", 313 pounds. His RAS isn't as high as Baalke usually likes, but I think just that experience in playing in the SEC and dominating in the SEC is likely what led Trent Bauck and the Jaguars to go after him. They believe he can play both left and right tackle. Cam Robinson and Walker Little are both set to be free agents after this year. We'll see if they bring one or both of them back, but even if they do, javon Foster's a guy that I think could be a really, really quality backup tackle in the NFL and that's good value for a fourth-rounder.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree, that's why I kept slotting him to us in the fourth round. Now, when you do simulations, a lot of times Phil just kind of alluded to this what you'll find in simulations, phil, is when you get past the third round, the simulators oftentimes could be a round off. So that was the case here in terms of the discrepancy of how they feel the people that put those metrics together on PFF or PFN, whoever simulator you prefer, and how the GMs and the executives in the NFL feel the executives in the NFL field. So you know, their big board might kind of differ after that third round and fourth round and you start to see people that you were getting in your simulators or your simulations in the fourth round fall to the fifth, fall to the sixth. You know another one was Austin Booker, right, who we were high on. You know we wanted to take him in the third round and he ended up going and I think it was the fifth to the Bears, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 3:But yeah, with Foster, I'm with Daniel on that in terms of you know and I kind of talked about this is they need it and you know we kind of I forgot who it was that put this out there another podcaster it might have been Wigg, but he was saying that he had an inkling that the Jaguars would prefer to get a tackle in day three of the draft and that ended up being the case. But yeah, when you look at the situation with Cam Robinson and Walker Little, their futures are uncertain. Some people even think Ken Robinson can get traded this year. I don't know about making that jump now, because it's a lot of things that and I want to watch some more of Foster. I have seen some games of him live as well as the SEC guy, but I want to go back and watch some more film. But a lot of things that I see in scouting reports that come up with him is the footwork he needs to be worked on, and you know you cannot throw a kid out there that the footwork isn't quite there yet. If that's the case over Cam Robinson, that will probably be a no-no, especially after what we saw Trevor Lawrence experience.
Speaker 3:But nonetheless, again, I love the aspect of getting a guy that has SEC talent, as Daniel mentioned, getting him in the fourth round, developing as they have led us to believe in terms of what transpired in this draft, then Javon Foster could end up starting next year, you know, in the place of Walker Little at right tackle or well, anton Harrison, technically, who probably would be slid to left tackle at that point. So I will see in time we'll tell on him. But I will say, way into the next pick, who we already kind of talked about a little bit here, daniel. But I do want to bring up the fourth round pick in Jefferson here who, as we all know, ended up playing with Mason Smith. They did some damage together there at LSU when Smith was healthy. If you would, could you talk about him and your thoughts on him, as he was the third LSU player that we took in this draft.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's a classic nose tackle. I don't know how much he's going to offer you in terms of rushing the passer, but big, thick, meaty guy, 6'3", 3'13", pretty good athlete. 8.31. Ras doesn't do too well with nose tackles simply because of their size, but 8.31 for a nose tackle is really good. He had a pass rush win rate of 3.5%, which is pretty rough. Compare that to Mason Smith's 9.5. It's a pretty steep drop off there, but you're signing this guy to come in and be a clog in your defensive line. Run stop percentage of 6.2% was a lot better. 38th of 114 qualifying defensive tackles in college football last year Really really strong dude. I think I saw someone say he squatted 700 pounds, which is absurd. I forget how many reps he did exactly on the bench. I know that that was also a nutty number.
Speaker 2:So this is a guy- 34,.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially at his size. The longer your arms, the harder it is to bench. So this is a dude that they really like his size, strength, profile and come in and be a run-stopping nose tackle for the Jaguars, especially important after they just released Foley Fatukasi. He's going to come in and I don't know how much he'll play right away, but hopefully a guy they can get some play time in his future.
Speaker 2:Do either one of you have any concern that they may rely on him a little bit too much, too early if we don't see Devon Hamilton get back to form like we hope that he does?
Speaker 1:It's not something I have honestly even thought about. I was just, you know, we drafted Jordan Jefferson and I was like, all right, it's probably going to be a little bit. But yeah, now that you mentioned with Devon Hamilton issue, god, I hope he gets back to what he was two years ago. It was pretty tough watching him out there, just from like a hey, I want to root for this guy. More than a fan of the team, I just wanted to see Devon Hamilton look like Devon Hamilton. Last year that certainly wasn't the case. After the unknown back injury that he was plagued by, it looked like.
Speaker 2:You know he lost a lot of strength out there on the field, yeah, so what do you think, jay?
Speaker 3:yeah, well, that's a good question. As daniel said, that's a lot. If they do. I'll say this if they do that, that's a lot to put on a fourth round picks plate. You know, like that's a lot to ask for that young man. As daniel said, too, I was concerned with what I saw out of hamilton too last year, because I'll never forget, man.
Speaker 3:He put together a tremendous tape. I think it was his rookie season against the chargers and I love going back and watching that game, just solely off of how he played. I think we may have even won that game. It was in Los Angeles. But just to look at that tape which is one of my favorite tapes of his and look at where he was last year is real concerning.
Speaker 3:Now, look, he's had a whole offseason to get himself right. So you know, that could be huge, that could be tremendous. But yeah, I think if we do see a lot of jefferson in this lineup, that could spell trouble because again, like that's just a lot to ask for for a young man drafted outside of the third round. But time will tell if hamilton can get back to where he is and um time will tell what we have in jefferson. Again, that's more so a training camp thing. Well, you know, we can monitor him closely and see how close in play he is to hamilton um, and and yeah, just kind of watch him, not only in training camp but in in the preseason games as well yeah, definitely something to keep an eye on there.
Speaker 2:I wanted to pose that question to the two of you. So, uh, yeah, I also very much hope I, just like you said, in a rooting for devon, as a you know, as a person, I want to see him get back to form. But, daniel, as we get back, as we get to the uh, the back half of the draft here and the back half of our episode as well, uh, you know, we kind of want to compile these last few picks all together and and see what you have. As far as standouts you know of, we had in the fifth round, de'andre Prince. They addressed cornerback once again, keelan Robinson.
Speaker 2:As a Texas fan that's definitely a guy that I'm a little bit familiar with probably going to come in as a returner. Didn't really see too many snaps at running back at Texas. They finally addressed kicker in the draft, jay, which we have been just screaming from the rooftops for for them to do for the longest time and then adding an edge rusher in the seventh round as well. So, daniel, what are some of your takeaways from those picks? Maybe some standouts that you like about where they went in the back half of the draft?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love the De'Andre Prince pick from Ole Miss corner. Athletically he's slightly above average, which is fine, but he's the boundary corner that everybody wanted and that they didn't get when the Jaguars selected Jarrion Jones. A couple of stats to note here. He allowed a completion percentage of 53.3 when targeted. That's pretty good. And then he was one of the least targeted corners in college football last year. Kool-aid McKinstry was the third least targeted and right behind him was De'Andre Prince. He was the 10th least targeted corner out of 226 qualifying corners 9.7 snaps per target. So I was really intrigued by him, especially in the fifth round. That's a really nice get.
Speaker 1:It's hard for me to comment on Keelan Robinson. I didn't know who he was when the Jaguars selected him. It's hard for me to get a feel for a kick returner, punt returner specialist. I'll let the Jaguars brass be the judges there of his talent. Be the judges there of his talent.
Speaker 1:Cam Little, I'm absolutely fine taking kickers on day three. I think people undervalue kickers and punters. I think that the Jaguars fans especially should understand that, with how good Logan Cook has been since they drafted him, he is one of, if not the best, punter in the NFL. And when the Jaguars had Josh Lambeau Josh Lambeau is statistically one of the best place kickers in NFL history, still from a field goal percentage standpoint and Cam Little if he can come in and be a Josh Scobie, josh Lambeau type guy, I think that that pays dividends for you for the next 10, 15 years. And I think that that's a super undervalued aspect of a football team.
Speaker 1:You can either get a guy that hey, may not make your roster if you get a D-line or O-line depth player, or you can get a guy that's going to be an impact starter on your team on special team. So I'm fine taking kickers and punters, not on day one or two probably, but if you're taking a guy in the fifth, sixth, seventh round, I think that that makes a lot of sense for a guy who's going to be a part of your football team for the next decade and a half. And then the Myles Cole pick is just the most balky pick ever. I'm good with it. You're getting a super traitsy edge player in round seven. I liked Myles Cole. I didn't think he.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree, I was seeing Cole being picked up in like the fifth, sixth round in simulations. So, yeah, like you said, very bulky, like pick. When you look at the measurables it makes so much sense 36 pick would indicate there there is a lot of stuff he'll have to learn about the NFL game, but, um, nonetheless, um, I completely understand that pick, cam Little. Yeah, me and Phil have always been advocates and we say this all the time on this podcast. Daniel, special teams is a lost art and, as you said, um, furthermore, is undervalued for some reason and I think me and phil have had a deep conversation on this because the jaguars have had special team flaws come up at times and at times they look very well, very good on special teams as well. But you know, when the flaws show up we have going on a few rants on this podcast, but I think it's because it starts in high school. Really, special teams just isn't taught like it used to be at the levels before college and then it has a trickle effect. You know, when it's that way, it has a trickle effect and it bleeds into the NFL. But back to Cam Little. I love that pick.
Speaker 3:He was a guy I wanted to put him in some of our mock drafts actually. But Balky never, to my recollection, has drafted a kicker in his tenure as a GM, even dating back to his time with San Francisco. It's been years and years where I've been sending him a kicker late, you know, in the draft, and they just never do it. So I just thought it wasn't going to happen. I thought that Balky felt that kickers weren't worth, you know, at the very least the fifth, sixth, seventh round selection and more so viewed as undrafted guys. But he proved me wrong there.
Speaker 3:We'll see if it proved to be a good pick. But with Cam, what I like about him is you get a kicker that's kicked in hostile environments. Right, we saw the kick. I think it was against LSU, where he nailed that one and they won the boot trophy or the LSU trophy there. And he's kicked in a few other hostile places, I think Florida as well. He had like maybe a game winner or something like that or something that may have taken him into overtime. So that's huge, unfortunately, I like kick, unfortunately.
Speaker 3:Right, I forgot about that, your connection with the University of Florida. But yeah, I like kids that have been in those kind of hostile environments, those 70,000, 80,000 crowds and able to nail those, because that can, you know, really really help a kid especially he's only 20 years old, by the way, so that can really really help him and that kind of tells you where he is mentally Right as a young man the youngest kicker ever drafted, if I'm not mistaken where he is mentally heading into the NFL. And then, when you look at the other picks, yeah, prince is a very good pick in the fifth round. I like that from the perspective of yeah, sure you had already took Jarrion Jones, but you know Prince's grades from mostly what I saw. He was about a fourth to fifth round pick, so that was right about where he should have gone. So that just kind of feels like they maybe went with the best available player that was available there at that time, regardless of position. Maybe they should start doing that in the top of the draft. That's another story for another time.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I like the Prince pick. I like the length. You know. Obviously he's seen some dogs over there and he mentioned this playing for Ole Miss, one of those guys that he mentioned, and he, you know, singled out as the hardest receiver he's ever covered with Brian Thomas. So you know this guy has gone through the gauntlet, he's seen it all, so I like that pick. But yeah, man, overall. You know, I would say I didn't really give my grades on the individual picks yet, but overall with the class I would say I would give it right now I feel like a, b and I feel like it's one of the more. I'll say this I don't necessarily love it. I've seen better classes but at the same time, for a Trent Baalke class, I like this class more than a lot of his other classes that he's come away with. I don't know if y'all agree with me there or not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the nice thing is you can kind of envision all of these guys seeing playing time at some point in their careers right, seeing significant playing time at some point in their career Whereas last year they picked Brenton Strange and then they picked Tank Bigsby, and then they picked Ventrell Miller, and even best-case scenario for Ventrell Miller, he's your fourth-best linebacker Because you already have Devin Lloyd, you already have Foye Luikon and you just picked Chad.
Speaker 3:Muma as well.
Speaker 1:So at best-case scenario, you've got a fourth linebacker and a decent special teams player and I'm just not sure the value was there. Regardless of what you think of the players, I think that they're probably all fine players. It's just a bit head-scratching as to hey, what do we see with these guys? What's our plan with these guys? Them all making some impact, a lot of them probably this year. We mentioned the Jordan Jefferson-Devon Hamilton conversation the Jaguars don't have. If Devon Hamilton can't go at nose tackle, you're going to have some playing time there. For Jordan Jefferson, you get a boundary corner. Jarrion Jones is probably going to. If he doesn't start, he's going to see significant snaps in the slot.
Speaker 1:It's nickel now, base nickel for pretty much every team in the NFL and college. You're going to see a lot of diamond quarters. You're going to have more and more defensive backs on the field. That's probably why the Jaguars felt the need to take two of them. Prince is a guy who can back up the starters on the outside. God forbid something were to happen to Tyson Campbell or Ronald Darby. You have some more depth there. I liked what I saw from Buster Brown last year, but it's never a bad thing to have too many corners. Another thing I'd like to mention regarding the special teams with kickers and punters. I don't know if you guys know this Logan Cook is the NFL's official all-time leader in punting net average all-time 43.1 yards. He's statistically the best punter in NFL history.
Speaker 2:That's crazy. Did not know that.
Speaker 1:And then Cam Little led the SEC and was fourth in FBS last year in touchback percentage. Touchback's a little different in the NFL this year We'll see how that goes, but it goes to show you the leg that he has. And Jay talked about his youthness. I think you mentioned it as well. He's the youngest kicker to ever be drafted. He's the youngest Jaguar, I believe, to ever be drafted as well. He's just 20 years old. But I'm sure you guys saw his interview after he was picked. That was hilarious. Dude's got swagger. I love it. He hit the gritty after one of his game-winning kicks as a freshman, I think against LSU. So I'm excited about him. Jaguars, kickers, have always kind of had personalities and I think he's going to be a fun one for a long time and I'm ready to root for him as well as all these guys.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you brought that up because, like you said, cam definitely has a little bit of a swagger about him. He definitely is a big personality. I was talking in our group chat about this with jay and some of our other friends and I kind of want to get your opinion on this too, daniel, because I think now that we're seeing, you know a lot of uh, these gen z-ers here in the league. They all have a lot of big, they're all very comfortable with conversation because I think they were raised to have healthy conversation skills and I think having those personalities on display you know we've seen Xavier Leggett and Keon Coleman be social media stars a post draft, which I think is is awesome. You see Caleb Williams and Roma Dunze hitting it off right away and in front of the cameras. You know what do you think about that?
Speaker 1:You know just personalities for these guys being front and center and again this new age of player that is now coming into the league. I think it makes it a lot easier to to like these guys beyond just football players. You know, like I, I love keon coleman and I'm nowhere near a buffalo bills fan and I'm already and I'm a gatorsators fan.
Speaker 2:I went to the University of Florida.
Speaker 1:This is an FSU receiver but just the realness and the wholesomeness of their conversations and the press conferences and interviews, of shopping at Macy's and getting sales, it makes you realize that these guys are more than just athletes making millions of dollars. You realize that these guys are more than just athletes making millions of dollars and I feel like that money difference, or how much they make, create some resentment or or or maybe a barrier between some fans with the nfl and I think that you know the players having having personalities makes it much more intimate. You, you know. And social media, like look at the Anton Harrison tweets about. You know what his favorite yeah, you know, like Anton Harrison right now is every Jaguar fan's favorite player, because this dude's just hilarious on Twitter, you know. You look at Dwayne Smoot has done a lot for the community as well. He's opened up the school. He's no longer with the team as of right now. Did he sign with Houston? I know he visited. I don't think I've signed with him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't see anything come out from that. Jay, Did you see anything? I didn't.
Speaker 3:I don't think he put pen to paper. It was just a visit, if I can recall.
Speaker 1:Okay, I was offline today for most of the day, so I just wanted to make sure nothing happened. I didn't want to speak wrongfully, but you know that's a there's. There's a lot of guys, especially for the Jaguars. You know we've had even. You know, the most mediocre players are fan favorites Dewey, wingard, gardner, minshew, blake, bortles you know no-transcript, and you know I think it's great.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I wanted to see how you felt about that as well. So, but yeah, guys, those are the draft picks that we actually selected. Did you have any standouts, daniel, as far as the undrafted free agents that had reportedly signed with the team? Anybody that you think we should have our eye on there? I know a lot of talk has been about the receivers, but any standouts that you'd like to point out that maybe?
Speaker 1:you've had a look at here in the last couple of days. I guess I'm the data guy, so I guess I'll bring up Wayne Ruby from Mount Union. Shout out Cecil Schwartz, also another Mount Union alum, but his 30 touchdowns in his I think it was his fourth season, he played five seasons 30 touchdowns in almost 1,800 yards is something that I can't even fathom from a collegiate or NFL standpoint. I've seen some really nutty high school stats, but 30 touchdowns at Mount Union, which is a halfway decent football school, that's absolutely wild to me. So that's a guy that I'm excited to see. Obviously he's not going to replicate that in the NFL, but that's something to keep your eye on and he's a guy that's intrigued me.
Speaker 2:What about you, Jay? Any standouts from the undrafted free agents or the Jarvis Landry news? We haven't even discussed that. Anybody that you'd like to highlight that that they brought in?
Speaker 3:I just want to say it's contagious, bro.
Speaker 3:It's contagious, and the great words bring him in just for that, honestly yeah, man, oh man, people, as people know that watch this or listen to this podcast. I love hard knocks and soon and soon as I saw that you know he was coming to camp in some capacity with us, I had to tweet that I just had to. But yeah, anyway, yeah, joshua Cephas for me is the guy Phil man. I've sent us plenty of, you know, mock drafts that I did that I didn't necessarily post on the site or make official, but it was plenty of mock drafts I sent in our thread where I had Joshua Cephas going to us in like the fifth, sixth round and I was actually kind of stunned when the draft was over and he wasn't drafted. I was like, wait, he didn't get drafted, like at the very least a seventh round pick, I mean, I guess, for him right after the fifth round. It's like I don't want anybody to draft me because if they don't I get my choice of where I want to go between, you know, whoever has to offer for me, whoever met with me, whoever really liked me. So you know that that kind of is a pro to being an undrafted free agent is you can kind of choose where you want to go from those who give you offers as opposed to a team picking you and you just got to go there. But yeah, he was legit at UTSA. Man, he was a guy.
Speaker 3:I remember Steve Smith talking about him a little bit on his podcast. He was a guy that you know. He caught my eye because at the time remember lost Calvin Ridley, but earlier in the offseason we were looking for receivers who were on the taller end I think Cephas is like 6'2" something like that. He was catching my eye from that perspective. He had the size that we were looking for. Again, this was before we got Gabe Davis To see him come to Jacksonville as an undrafted free agent. I can't wait to see him, as well as the Mount Union kid that um Daniel mentioned as well, because, again, shout outs to Cecil Shorts. But um, cecil Shorts is the one that uh really put Mount Union on the map for Jaguars fan and fans and help us realize where that college is and what they're about.
Speaker 3:But yeah, those two man like it's going to be a real competitive wide receiver room this year. You know, when it comes to those bottom spots, parker, washington my god is escaping my, my name right, uh, my mind right now from san jose state that we got an undrafted free agency judge, not jones, but um, elijah Cooks, yeah, who I was very high on, still am very high on, but yeah, tim Jones too. Daniel, now that you mention it, those last few spots, it's going to get competitive for those last few spots. I will be watching that room like a hawk come training camp, because they got some dogs at the bottom, some potential dogs. Because they got some dogs at the bottom with some potential dogs, with some of these kids we haven't seen on the NFL level yet, but they got some dogs that could be scrapping for that. You know, sixth, seventh, fifth spot at the bottom of the roster at that wide receiver depth chart.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot of excitement around the wide receiver position, for sure. So, jay, do you have anything else to ask our guest as we wrap up? This episode Got a lot of great information. Can't wait for everybody to hear it. Anything else you want to ask, daniel, before we get out of here for the evening?
Speaker 3:Nah, man, he's answered a lot of what we asked out of him and a lot of what we didn't. He answered the stuff that was crossing my mind. It's like I forgot to ask that but he covered it on his own. That's just how good this guy is. Man Reminds me of the old Jaguars wire days, man, I was so glad to reconnect with him, glad to have him back doing some kind of form of work with us. Man, it felt like old times for sure.
Speaker 1:It's great to talk to you again. We used to have phone calls of 30, 45 minutes just talking Jaguars, and it's nice to be able to talk Jaguars with you guys. After the draft. I'm going to dig a lot deeper into this draft class and try to find some more data to either create some lines of thinking with what some of these guys can do, as well as maybe some things that these guys need to work on, with what some of these guys can do, as well as maybe some things that these guys need to work on. Some of these guys aren't going to be super helped or hurt by data simply because guys like Mason Smith and Keeler Robinson just don't have that much data available for them or usable data, I guess, is a better way to say that and I'm excited to see these guys play A lot of really great athletes, which we kind of come to expect with a Trent Balke draft.
Speaker 1:He loves to draft his height, weight, length, speed guys, but with that they have the potential to be really, really good football players, and I think some of these guys already are really good football players. Jerrion Jones and Javon Foster are two of my favorites from this class, but there's a lot of other guys to be excited about. So you get. You got Brian Thomas jr, who's going to probably come in and be a an immediate impact player for Trevor Lawrence and hopefully take Trevor Lawrence's game to the next level and it really cement himself as a top 10 quarterback this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, anyway, thank you so much for your time, and we're always on the lookout for any of the content you put out, so please let our audience know where they can find anything that, of course, that you were working on, either on social media or anywhere else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I graduated Florida. My specialty was sports data journalism. I learned a few computer languages to help me sort through all of this data that's put out there, whether I collect it myself or it's available to the public from either PFF or Sumer Sports Sports Info Solutions. But I wanted to make that my niche. Some other teams have some people that are putting out awesome data and I wanted of wanted to emulate that. Gus Logue is really really good with data analytics as well at Big Cat Country. But yeah, on Twitter I try to post two or three data tweets a day. My Twitter is at Dan D Griffiths, and then I'm blessed to be with Jaguar Report, writing for SI as well as for SI, as well as uh, john Shipley.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and all of that will be in the show notes here. So everything that you need to find, daniel, as well as all the touchdown Jaguar stuff, will be in the show notes of this episode. Daniel, we thank you so much for joining us and we'll definitely be doing it again very, very soon, as we have a whole lot to look forward to, and we thank our Touchdown Jaguars audience for joining us for today's episode. Thanks, guys.